Introducing the Jericho-Revelation Hypothesis
O
ccasionally I am asked what my favorite book of the Bible is, or my favorite verse. It is too hard for me to choose a favorite, but I will tell you that threads excite me more than just about anything. Threads? Like the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread used on the tabernacle and the priests’ clothing? I love bright, colorful threads, but no. What I mean is certain concepts woven into Scripture in multiple places. I have covered several threads already (in Betrayal on the Mount of Olives, Rejection of the King, By the Aqueduct, and in the video, Why Did Jesus Have to Die?). The Scriptures came to us from the pens of about 40 men through a period of about 1550 years. The reason threads delight me so much is because they glorify the Holy Spirit as the true author of Scripture. Only He could put it all together, and enable us to recognize it. Is there a thread from the Battle of Jericho to the Tribulation? I believe so! I will explain, and you can prayerfully see what you think.
When I Saw It
It was about the first week of December, 2011. I opened my Bible and the pages fell to Joshua 5 and 6. There was a coffee mark on that page, making it more likely to open there (and this happened frequently). The stain used to disappoint me, until that day.
I love the account of the battle of Jericho, so I decided to read that section first, before moving on to whatever I had planned to read that day. I began reading in Joshua 5:13, where Joshua, near Jericho, suddenly meets the Commander of the Army of the LORD, who stands with sword drawn. Joshua falls on his face to worship Him, and is not rebuked, so we know it is the LORD. Joshua is asked to remove his sandals, like Moses at the burning bush, because he stands on holy ground. He obeys. In chapter 6, the Commander speaks again. This time, it simply says, “And the LORD said to Joshua…” Then He unfurls what humanly sounds like one of the strangest battle plans in the history of the planet! I doubt they study this in the war colleges!
I was amazed and humbled that the LORD would uncover such a gem to me. Could this be? Then immediately, I was attacked in my spirit. A deep longing washed over me. “Is this an arrow from the enemy?” I wondered. It was my last wise thought for a while. I did not take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. Instead, I gave them a home in my heart, where they grew and lodged for the better part of the next year. I should have been on my face, glorifying the Lord and searching His Word for more treasures. Instead, I was held up by a distraction. A selfish attitude of discontentment grew, which poorly affected my relationship with God. One day, He woke me up to the reality. I was ashamed, and repented. Just like that, the flaming dart was extinguished, and my heart was healed. As quickly as the longing came upon me, it disappeared, never to return.
Pressing the “Each Seal is a Year” Hypothesis
We know there are seven seals, and when the seventh seal is opened, seven trumpets. Revelation does not tell us each seal is a year, or that the seals represent equal amounts of time, so I would classify this as a theory. However, I also believe it makes a lot of sense, just from a straightforward look at Revelation 6 and 8:1-2. There are several matters I believe lend strength to this theory:
First and Second Time
Daniel 11:21-45 is about the last king of north—the one who eventually stops the sacrifices, places the abomination of desolation, exalts himself above all, and annihilates many—until he comes to his end. Verses 21-24 speak of the first time of the king of the north, in contrast to the next, when he begins to make war. A “time” in Daniel is a year. (I explain this in How Long is the Tribulation?). The first seal of Revelation implies conquest (Revelation 6:1-2), but in a way that is distinguished from the days of the second seal, when peace is taken from the earth and men kill each other (Revelation 6:3-4). Thus, I believe the first seal is suggested to be a false peace. So, I believe the first seal may correspond to the first time (year) of this king of the north, and the second seal to his second time.
The Sixth Seal Signs Precede the Day of the LORD
In the sixth seal, the sun becomes black, and the moon like blood (see Revelation 6:12-14). Now the wicked hide in the rocks of the ground, seeking their own deaths. They cry out to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” The same heavenly signs are prophesied in Joel chapter 2 as signs preceding the day of the LORD. I believe they want to die because they know the Lamb’s wrath is imminent.
Joel 2:30-32 (NKJV)
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
32 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the LORD has said,
Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Since Joel says the sun and moon going dark precede the day of the LORD, and since these things happen in the sixth seal, the day of the LORD should be the seventh seal.
The Day of the LORD is a Year
Isaiah 34:8 says the day of the LORD is a year of recompense.
Isaiah 34:8 (NKJV)
For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
So, it follows that the day of the LORD is the seventh seal, and the day of the LORD is a year. If true, that would make the seventh seal a year.
Other Connections from Jericho to the Tribulation?
As I have thought about this over the years, I see other potential links between the Battle of Jericho and the Tribulation.
The First and the Last Battle to Possess the Covenant Land
The Battle of Jericho was the first battle the children of Israel faced after crossing the Jordan River and entering the covenant land of Canaan, which God had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Tribulation is essentially is the last battle, after which Jesus will take full possession of the land of Israel, in order to reign as King over the whole earth (Zechariah 14:9, Isaiah 24:23). This will fulfill what Jacob first prophesied in Genesis 49, and many other places:
Genesis 49:10 (NKJV)
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.Luke 1:32-33 (NKJV)
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
While speaking of His coming, Isaiah 27:12 says the LORD will thresh from the wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates—the same borders He promised to give Abraham’s descendants in Genesis 15:18.
He will also receive praise from Israel for increasing the borders of the land:
Isaiah 26:15 (NKJV)
You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders of the land.
Though the children of Israel carried out the battle of Jericho, it was the Divine Commander (God) Who set the plans, and God who made Jericho’s walls to fall. Certainly, God is in complete control of the seals and trumpets. I am reminded of Jesus’s statement in Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last” (Revelation 1:11). (Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.)
Trumpet, A Great Shout, Collapse
The LORD instructed Joshua concerning the seventh day:
Joshua 6:4-5 (NKJV)
”But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”
As you know, Israel followed the LORD’s battle plans. At the long blast of the trumpet, the people let out a loud shout, and at that moment, the walls of Jericho collapsed—except the portion of the wall that contained Rahab the prostitute’s house, who feared the LORD and helped the Hebrew spies.
At Jesus’ coming, there will be a great trumpet and a shout. It will be at the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52), that is, the seventh trumpet of Revelation (Revelation 11:15-19), when Jesus becomes King over the whole earth. There will be a great earthquake, and great hail will drop from the skies to crush the Lord’s enemies. But those who take shelter under the shadow of His wing will be shielded from the plagues that befall the wicked (Psalm 91).
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NKJV)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.Revelation 16:17-21 (NKJV)
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
A Reasonable Theory?
I think the Jericho Battle Plan theory of Revelation’s timeline is logically clean and reasonable. What about you? I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments.
God bless you.
interedting. Ty for share it.
Yes I believe the threads connect.
Thanks for sharing everything you shared.
Sharing are battles makes it real ….
Blessings on your week sister.
Thank you, Paul. God bless.
Wow.
I have come to the post tribulation conclusion within the past 4-5ish years, after just getting alone with God and His Word and starting “from scratch”. He has been teaching me such simple truths that make such perfect logical sense. I praise His name for speaking His simple truths to one such as myself! That being said, this Jericho “thought” had come to me but I had quickly skipped on over it. Thank you for bringing it out with such thought, clarity, and verses to compare (not just “I think….”). What a treasure this thought is! And so simple. Just like our God, so simple a child could understand it!
I am new to your site, but will definitely be spending time with you, gleaning and learning.
Lisa
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for your comment. It was very encouraging to me. Praise the name of the LORD!
Greetings and God’s blessing to you, Annette, and thank you.
This is a worthy theory and I thank God and you for sharing it.
You’re welcome!
Yes a very reasonable theory for sure.
Well thought and well written, Annette. As always, your Scriptural evidence is so compelling.
~Grace & Peace
A little more food for thought. The 1/2 hour silence in heaven reminds of the silence as they marched around Jericho. Did the math, if 1 day for God is 1 year for us, then (going by the Jewish lunar calendar) using the avg. year of 354 days, then 1/2 hour in heaven would be 7 days, 8 hours and 53 minutes on earth. But they occasionally have 353 days in a year… so that week is shortened somewhat. Interesting stuff. There are a few other parallels for Joshua and Tribulation, the water drying up, the blowing of the trumpets, the silence, the shouts, those saved from destruction… I am sure there are more but I’m still in the middle of it! SOOO very interesting!
I am curious how post trip is deduced from this? I don’t see it and truly want to know what you see. I am always studying and like to see others’ points of view because I am not so proud to think that what I’ve come up with is the right answer and want to learn from others. Here are some of my very brief in a nutshell thoughts on it. After years and years of study at one point could see it is possible for a post or mid-trib rapture, but I’ve backed off and am really compelled for pre-trib with a small, slight possibility of mid-trib. I do not believe this Jericho-Tribulation hypothesis points to being post but obviously there is some other scriptures to wonder at and I certainly see the parallels of Jericho and Tribulation in this hypothesis but see it as lining up with Pre-Trib. There are many good scriptures that could point to Post, but scriptures for Pre are much more numerous and compelling. I always go back to John 16:33 and 1 Thess 5:9. Many point to John 16:33 “…In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world!” He said we will have tribulation (trouble), He is talking about worldly trouble (ie “I have overcome the world”), not tribulation from God (ie His wrath) 1 Thess 5:9 God has not appointed us to wrath. The Revelation tribulation is God’s wrath, meant for those who have turned against Him and to bring His people (mostly unsaved Israel but I’m sure there will be Gentiles as well) to repentance and back to Him. Revelation 3:10 “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” If we will have to go through the tribulation then what was His death on the cross that we have already received for if we now have to receive the testing of trial? Was is just for everyone else that died before? Wasn’t Yeshua’s death on the cross meant to save us from God’s wrath? It seems too much like we have to go through this for something like salvation if we are to live through tribulation. Gives those already redeemed too much to boast about in themselves. But that is just my thoughts on it. Scripture points out many separate groups in heaven for many things, I have not seen any that point to a believing church suffering the tribulation being separate from the believing church that died before tribulation started. I think it might all boil down to who is He talking to/about in certain instances. There are times it is quite clear He is talking about Israel, other times His church (believers in Yeshua), and still other times of the unsaved; those who will be saved during the tribulation and those who will not be saved.
Thank you for letting me share. Really loved what you had to say and was so glad to find it! Thanking to Lord for what He has lead you too!
Hi Beth,
The point of this article was not to prove Post-Tribulation, but I do that in other articles:
The Timing of the Gathering
The Last Trumpet
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares
When the Fig Tree Puts Forth Leaves
“The Church Must Be Gone Before the Man of Lawlessness Can Be Revealed” (in Answers section)
“The Day of the LORD is Wrath” [Only]” (in Answers section)
I also have a video not made into a blog: The Last Day
Based on your comment, you might also check out these articles from the Answers page:
“But We Won’t Suffer Wrath”
“I Also Will Keep You From the Hour of Trial”
It stuns me really, that you ask, “If we will have to go through the Tribulation then what was His death on the cross that we have already received for it we now have to received the testing of trial?” Jesus died to reconcile our souls from the ultimate wrath–a future in the Lake of Fire, because of our sins. We are all objects of wrath before being reconciled to God through Jesus (John 3:18, 36). Facing tribulation (even Revelation 6-18) isn’t facing God’s wrath. Jesus told us to expect tribulation (John 16:33), not to be afraid of being persecuted and even killed for His sake (Matthew 10:28, Luke 9:24-25, Luke 21:12-19, John 15:20, etc.), and this theme is replete through the Scriptures (Acts 14:22, Romans 5:3, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 3:13, 1 Thessalonians 3:4, Hebrews 10:33, 2 Timothy 3:10-12, for example). The apostles were mostly martyrs, and it was not that they did something wrong and were being scourged by God. Many millions over the years have followed them, and will continue to do so. If you are offended by tribulation, you are likely to contribute to the fulfillment of the seed that fell on stony ground in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13), who believed for awhile, but then when trouble or persecution arise, they quickly fall away. Salvation is not about a comfy life now–it’s about forgiveness of sins and a relationship with Jesus, who is eternal life. Have you read all that Paul and his companions endured to spread the gospel? He talks in 1 Corinthians 15 about how we are to be pitied most of all if there is no resurrection of the dead (because of suffering for His name), but since there is a resurrection of the dead (both for Christ, and His saints), then we have hope (even if we are perishing). If you have read Revelation, you’ve probably noticed all kinds of saints there during the Tribulation. They are not earning their salvation through suffering–no. They are just being His faithful witnesses on the path He has set them on. Jesus purchased our salvation with His blood. Persecution–even martyrdom–is just part of following Jesus, Who was severely persecuted and killed for righteousness.
Whether a person is dead or alive at the coming of the Lord, there is only one body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).
God bless,
Annette
Thank you for your post and your study. There are so many different views of these coming times. I often ask people of their end time views and I’m sure their are not enough pages to contain them all…!!!
It has been on my heart to study Revelation and I have read a chapter every day for the past 3 years. I said to myself ” I would stop reading it when I did not Glean something from the word each time. That has yet to happen.
I’m writing a comment to let you know I have come to the same conclusion with the 7 seals. It seems very clear to me at this point. I have prayerfully been asking the Lord to open my eyes and ears regarding Revelation and its mysteries.
I also wanted to encourage you as I know this can be a very sensitive topic and it comes with a heavy burden.